Perkasie man acquitted in Newtown Township crash

Wednesday

A judge in Bucks County found Barry Hillborn not guilty of felony charges stemming from a crash on Swamp Road in Newtown Township.

A head-on Newtown Township crash that severely injured a woman and her child was not a felony, a judge has ruled.

Barry Samuel Hillborn Jr., 51, of Perkasie, was acquitted Tuesday in Bucks County Court of two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and a summary count of reckless driving at the conclusion of a bench trial.

“This was a bad accident, but it was never a crime,” said Hillborn's attorney Louis Busico. The attorney had argued from the beginning of the trial that his client was at fault in the February 2017 crash on Swamp Road, but not criminally liable.

Prosecutors had argued he was liable, saying Hillborn's Ford F-150 pickup truck crossed the double-yellow line as he attempted to pass motorists ahead of him despite the section of road clearly prohibiting passing.

Witnesses testified at trial last week that almost immediately after pulling into the opposite lane, Hillborn's truck struck a car. The woman driving the car and her daughter were hospitalized for months as a result.

The girl, 11 at the time, has lasting medical issues and scars. Both she and her mother told Judge Raymond F. McHugh they did not remember the crash.

Court records show McHugh did find Hillborn guilty of summary driving offenses pertaining to driving on the left side of the road.

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